Oswald the Lucky Rabbit

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Contents

Background

Personality

In early cartoons, Oswald was very similar to the early incarnations of Mickey Mouse, that being the mischievous but well-meaning character made popular among cartoons in the 1920s. He was quite energetic, inventive, adventurous and almost always caused trouble, but found his way out through cunning and wit. Oswald loved to play and make others laugh, but despite his flaws, he has morals and always tries to do the right thing.

In his current revival (specifically in the Epic Mickey series), Oswald is portrayed as more aggressive, serious, and short-tempered than Mickey, though he does have a sense of fun and humor. Oswald is also introduced as being rough, bitter, spiteful and cold around anyone he doesn't trust. Ironically, despite having the moniker "lucky," Oswald is prone to bad luck as much as good luck, as he usually lands into adverse situations that require the luck and chance to resolve them.

Oswald has also been shown harboring a strong jealousy towards his "replacement" for effectively stealing his life. Some materials indicate this relationship outside of spin-off material; pictures were drawn by Walt himself depicted Mickey and Oswald meeting for the first time and support these sentiments.[1]

In the Epic Mickey games, Oswald appeared to have a strong attachment to Walt to the point that he had a replica of his statue built in Wasteland, viewing him as a fatherly figure. Unfortunately, Walt's apparent favor towards Mickey would contribute further to Oswald's bitterness. Being forgotten for over 80 years made him very cynical (and quite selfish) about his life, mainly due to how no one remembers him. However, he is sympathetic towards others who suffer fates similar to his. It takes someone with a strong will to earn his trust. Beneath his harsh and cold exterior, however, lies a saddened, miserable and hurt character who just wants to be loved again by the hearts of millions. His time with Mickey helped him realize how Mickey cares about him despite their differences and the glory Mickey (unknowingly) stole from him for so long, allowing Oswald to drop his grudge and accept Mickey since it is what Walt would have wanted. It also makes him realize that it's not how many people that love you, but it's the people themselves.

Besides being rather grumpy, Oswald is still mischievous, but he has a more mature approach towards life. With luck on his side, Oswald is willing to take risks and will attempt to do what's best for his family and friends. Though he doesn't appear to be, Oswald can be quite friendly if he wants to. His love for Ortensia is just as strong as Mickey's love for Minnie.

History

The Walt Disney Era

Oswald makes his debut in Trolley Troubles.

After the Alice Comedies, Disney's second animated series (after the Laugh-o-Grams), folded up in 1927, Carl Laemmle approached Disney and requested a new all-animated series featuring a rabbit. Disney and Ub Iwerks created a new character called "Oswald the Lucky Rabbit". The first Oswald cartoon, Poor Papa, was poorly received by Charles Mintz and he demanded a better, younger version of Oswald. The next cartoon, Trolley Troubles, was well-received and the series was officially launched.

In Oswald's first, official short, Poor Papa, he was a considerably older rabbit with a far more aggressive attitude. While the short was poorly received, it was significant in introducing Oswald's children, who would later reappear in Trolley Troubles and Oh, Teacher. Only three known recordings of "Poor Papa" are known to exist today. As mentioned above, the following short, Trolley Troubles, was the first to showcase the Oswald the world knows today. He was portrayed as a small, rather mischievous rabbit, often finding himself in trouble. He would always be saved, however, through his luck (hence the name). He was also shown to have the ability to disassemble his body parts at will, as seen when he literally detached his leg and kissed it for good luck. This trait would carry on to later incarnations.

Like many classic Disney characters, some stories revolving the rabbit would center wooing a love interest. Oswald's original love interest was named Fanny; a sultry rabbit. She would later be replaced by a cat named Ortensia in The Bankers Daughter.

Before he was introduced to Mickey, the infamous Pete was an enemy of Oswald's. The two were bigger rivals, often at odds for varying reasons, though Oswald would always come out on top, due to the impressive strokes of luck.

Oswald meeting Mickey

In 1928, with the series going strong, Disney demanded an increased budget from Mintz, which he refused. Mintz instead told Disney that he was going to cut the budget and if Disney did not agree to the cut, Mintz would take Oswald for himself. Disney refused and most of Disney's employees left to go work for Mintz. Only Ub Iwerks and Les Clark remained, who, along with Walt, secretly created a new cartoon star to replace Oswald — Mickey Mouse, who became the most legendary cartoon icon in the world, which is what would've been Oswald's position.

Meanwhile, over at Universal, Oswald's popularity and appearances in films would diminish with every passing year until the character fell into obscurity and was ultimately forgotten by the public and possibly Universal itself.

Return to Disney

In 2002, an episode of House of Mouse called "Dennis the Duck" inspired Disney to get Oswald back from Universal. Over the years, they had tried to get Oswald back through many attempts but kept failing.

In 2006, the Walt Disney Company finally got back the rights to Oswald through a trade with sportscaster Al Michaels after over 80 years. To celebrate Oswald's triumphant return to the company, a line of special merchandise was released at Disney Stores nationwide and a Walt Disney Treasures DVD set was released compiling all of the surviving Disney-produced Oswald cartoons.

Oswald in Get a Horse!.

Oswald makes a cameo appearance near the end of Get a Horse!, waving to the audience from the bottom right side of the screen when Mickey and the gang all rejoice at Pete's defeat when Minnie drives Pete's car through. This was Oswald's first appearance in a Disney animation production in more than 84 years. However, Oswald's cameo was so well hidden that it was not noticed by the public that Oswald even appeared in the short until this fact was announced by Jerry Beck on his Facebook page in a post made on September 28, 2013.

Disney of Japan also released a small Christmas short with Oswald and Ortensia online for the holidays. Creating the first new pure Oswald animation since his return to Disney. The story simply revolved around Oswald hiking up a mountaintop to visit Ortensia for Christmas.

Films and television

He can be seen in the hieroglyphics in the short "Entombed". Oswald made his first physical appearance in the episode "Canned", where he is dug up from a heap of trash by Mickey and promptly thrown into a trash can.

Video games

Oswald is one of the main characters in the Nintendo Wii video game Epic Mickey. In the game, he is the ruler of the Cartoon Wasteland—a world where forgotten, rejected and retired Disney creations reside. Working with the Mad Doctor, he constructs robotic Beetleworx as a construction crew for his Disneyland-inspired vision. But then, an accident caused by Mickey Mouse early in his career creates a monstrous Shadow Blot that brings the Wasteland into ruins. The Mad Doctor then betrays Oswald and sides with the Blot. After a long battle, Oswald and his wife Ortensia seal the Blot inside a large jug at the top of Mickeyjunk Mountain, but at the cost of Ortensia's life.

Ever since Oswald remains at the mountain to guard the jug while nursing his hatred towards Mickey for having stolen the life and career that could have been his. When Mickey arrives, Oswald ends up reluctantly helping him on his quest to get out of Wasteland by refurbishing the Moonliner rocket in Tomorrow City, although Oswald is implied to be tempted to remove Mickey's heart and leave him in Wasteland, so Oswald can become a big star again.

After defeating the fake Shadow Blot at the summit of Mickeyjunk Mountain, Mickey reveals that he is responsible for the Thinner Disaster and the Blot and an extremely furious Oswald accidentally releases the real Blot, who steals Mickey's heart and begins to destroy Wasteland. The two decide to use the rocket to attack the Blot, only to land in Dark Beauty Castle, where the plans change to using fireworks to do the job.

Oswald giving Mickey's heart back to him after the Shadow Blot's Bloticles are taken down.

The Blot ends up consuming Oswald, Mickey, and Gremlin Gus and the three have to fight the Blot from the inside. Oswald is stuck to the Blot's walls but is freed by Mickey. He catches Mickey's released heart but takes a good look at it, then, though a bit reluctantly, gives it back to Mickey, and launches the fireworks, which destroys the Blot once and for all. In doing so, Oswald is the real hero; he gives back Mickey's heart in the end and then saves the day. The impact causes Oswald and Ortensia to crash back to Mean Street and causes Mickey to leave Wasteland. In the shower of Paint that results from the explosion, Wasteland is restored and Ortensia is revived, helping to seal Mickey and Oswald's friendship and perhaps even extending into a true brotherhood.

Originally, Oswald was to play a far more negative role. He was meant to be the main antagonist during the game's early stages. He and the Blot were originally going to combine and become the Storm Blot, but this was soon dropped and Oswald eventually became an anti-hero with a boss battle before finally settling down to deuteragonist because the producers didn't want to reintroduce him to the world this way.

In the sequel to Epic Mickey, the Mad Doctor returns to Wasteland, claiming to have reformed and offering to help protect the world against a new threat in the form of natural disasters. Oswald teams up with Mickey to save the day once again. To aid Mickey, Oswald has a remote that can defeat or redeem enemies with electricity, like Mickey's paint. Oswald's remote can turn Beetleworx into allies, and power machines. Oswald's other powers are the use of his ears as a helicopter to float and to remove his arm and use it as a boomerang to get items or hit things and enemies.

Oswald appears in the game to Mickey as he re-enters Wasteland. Because Mizrabel was forgotten, she brought Castle Illusion to Wasteland to drain the currently famous characters and threatens Wasteland's safety as well, and had kidnapped Minnie to lure Mickey in. In the game, Oswald monitors the hub stations as parts of the castle break away to inform Mickey of the captured toons and locate Mizrabel herself.

Other games

On Disney.com, in the online game Hidden Mickey (based on the episode "No Service"), some Oswald dolls can be spotted as prizes at carnival game booths along the boardwalk.

Printed Media

Comics

Epic Mickey: The Graphic Novel

in the webcomic adaption of Epic Mickey, Oswald plays essentially the same role as in the game, except he is already aware Mickey caused the Great Thinner disaster. The comic also provides extra details of Oswald's life in Wasteland prior to The Thinner Disaster. Oswald is also shown to be more aggressive than in the game, likely as a result of already knowing Mickey caused the thinner disaster instead of finding out later in the story.

Epic Mickey: Tales of Wasteland

Oswald and Ortensia in the Tales of the Wasteland comics.

Oswald is the main character in the Epic Mickey: Tales of Wasteland (digi)comics. These comics are a prequel to Epic Mickey and takes place before the Thinner Disaster.

As the main character, he appears in all six of them. He and his Animatronic pals try to clean the Clock Tower in "Clock Tower Cleaners" and tries to spend a night in Lonesome Manor because Pete dared him in "One Scary Night". He gets his feet stolen in "The Game's Afoot", fiercely competes with Horace in "The Rubbish Cup", visits the Mad Doctor with Ortensia and tries many different personas to regain his popularity in "Oswald the Lucky Duck" and tries to escape Wasteland in "There's a Hole in the Sky".

Oswald is quite adventurous, friendly and competitive in the comics. He is quick to take up a challenge and prove his worth, but also believes most people don't care for him and see him as an out of date version of Mickey. The Mad Doctor tries to trick Oswald for his evil plans. Oswald loves Ortensia and their Bunny Children and seems to be good friends with Horace Horsecollar. He also takes his Animatronic pals with him on many adventures.

Just Like Magic!

Oswald on the cover of his first feature comic strip.

The Norwegian "En magisk jul!" (translated as "A Magical Christmas!") marks the first Oswald and Ortensia appearance in modern Disney comics outside of the Epic Mickey universe. Written by David Gerstein and drawn by Mark Kausler, it is based and takes place in the times of the classic Oswald shorts from 1927 and 1928.[3] It was printed in America under the title "Just Like Magic!" in Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #726.[4]

A hungry Oswald and Toby Bear see Ortensia and her rich banker father, J. P. Whiskers, standing before a house where various foods are being brought in for J. P. Whiskers's Christmas dinner party. Oswald uses his charm and asks Ortensia if he and Toby can join them. A charmed Ortensia seems willing, but Oswald and Ortensia are quickly interrupted by Ortensia 's little brother Homer the Cat. The small bratty cat drags Ortensia inside while Whiskers lectures Oswald and slams the door in his face.

Still wanting to join Ortensia and the party, The hungry rabbit tries to prove his good luck as a disguised Oswald and Toby sneak into J. P. Whiskers's Christmas dinner party by impersonating a man they think is the head waiter. But the "waiter" was really a hired magician, so Oswald is forced to put on a magic show with a genuine, very powerful magic hat.

Prior to 2014, Oswald did not make any live appearances at the parks, due to the company having had no ownership of him for decades. After Disney reacquired the character in 2006, his likeness has become a semi-common part of the parks.

Clothing, toys, pins and other merchandise items featuring Oswald have since been made available in the parks as well.

During the Disney California Adventure expansion, Oswald appeared in a mural depicting him and several of his fellow classic Disney characters working as a construction crew. Also in the park, a souvenir shop called "Oswald's Filling Station" opened with Buena Vista Street in 2012.

Gallery

Trivia

Despite Oswald's origins being a hand drawn black and white character for Universal Studios, Oswald's first appearance for cinema within the ownership of Walt Disney Motion Pictures is in a CG format (Get A Horse!).

Oswald, Goofy and Pete are three of the very few characters from the Classic Disney Shorts to have a biological child instead of a traditional niece or nephew. Goofy has Max, Pete has P.J. and Pistol and Oswald has the Bunny Children.

In the Bonkers comics, there is a character named Nimrod the Rabbit, a comedian and keeper of the Toonstone, who is very similar to Oswald.

Fourteen years prior to Epic Mickey, Oswald's video game debut was in a Sega Master System game titled Woody Woodpecker's Frustrated Vacation, released only in Brazil in 1996. This game notably marked Oswald's final appearance in his Walter Lantz design.

In 2004, shortly before Disney acquired the rights to Oswald, Universal Pictures utilized an Oswald similar in appearance to the Disney/Iwerks design, but with blue fur and yellow shorts.[7][8]

Oswald's Japanese appearance from this time may have inspired the character design for the Bunny Children, as each Bunny Child is blue in color.

Oswald's name is also different in Japanese, as he is called Oswald Rabbit instead of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

He had been voiced by Pinto Colvig in 1930, Mickey Rooney in 1931, and June Foray in 1943, and is now voiced by Frank Welker.

Unused concept art by Disney artist Kevin Nelson for Wreck-It Ralph had Oswald being proposed as a racer for Sugar Rush.